Can't remember where your soup spoon ought to go? What about your salad fork? Knowing how to set a traditional table can seem like antiquated etiquette -- but it can come in handy! Anna Post, great-great-granddaughter of etiquette expert Emily Post, shows how to set a table with a plate full of tips and tricks to boot (even your grandmother will be impressed).
00:00Have you ever helped set a table and found yourself wondering where to place the forks?
00:20Or sat down to eat at a restaurant and wondered which utensils to use?
00:24Well, here are some simple, traditional etiquette tips on how to set a table.
00:29What would happen if you set a table like this?
00:32It doesn't look good and you have to clean up the mess before you can even start.
00:36Let's try another way.
00:38To start, use a placemat or tablecloth, but not both, so the dishes aren't directly on the table.
00:44This is more about looks than etiquette, but it's rare to see nothing under a plate unless you're eating at a picnic table.
00:50Set out any flowers, candlesticks, or other decorations you like.
00:54Candles are usually only lit at night.
00:56Start with utensils for the main course, putting your dinner fork on the left and your dinner knife on the right-hand side, since these are the hands we use them with.
01:04Here's a helpful tip.
01:05You always eat outside in, so to set for salad, we'll put the salad fork to the outside of the dinner fork and the salad knife to the outside of the dinner knife.
01:14We'll have salad first, then our main course.
01:17Notice, too, that the knife blades are both pointed toward the plate.
01:21This is an old tradition from a time when dinner knives were quite sharp, and it was a sign of politeness and non-aggression to keep them pointed away from other diners.
01:30We might have some soup, and since soup usually comes first, the soup spoon goes outside the knives, since we use our right hand to hold it.
01:38Here's another tip.
01:39Only set the table with what you'll need.
01:41If you're not eating soup, don't set a soup spoon.
01:44Now, for dessert we'll have ice cream, so we'll place the dessert up top, since we don't need it for a little while.
01:50Notice that the bowl of the spoon is pointing to the left.
01:53This way, when it's time to eat, you just slide it down and it's in the right spot.
01:58If you were having cake, you'd set a fork and flip it 180 degrees, so it would be right side up on the left instead.
02:05Next, we'll anchor our setting with the plate.
02:08You can also serve from the kitchen, then bring them to the table.
02:12The bread plate goes up and to the left of the setting, and the butter knife goes on the plate at an angle, again with the blade pointing in.
02:19There's only one spot left, and that's for the drinks.
02:23Set the wine glass to the upper right, and then place the water glass to the left of it at an angle.
02:29If you're like me and can never remember which goes where, think water, wine, W-A-W-I, A-I.
02:36They go left to right in alphabetical order.
02:39Another tip.
02:40To remember left and right with the bread and the drinks, think BMW, like the car.
02:45B, your bread plate, is on the left.
02:47M, your meal, is in the middle.
02:49And W, your water, is on the right.
02:52Lastly, the napkin traditionally goes to the left of the forks, though it's okay to put it underneath them, too.
02:58For a fancier meal like this one that takes up a lot of space, we'll put it in the middle.
03:03Now we're ready to eat.
03:05Hopefully these tips will be helpful the next time you're asked to help set the table or sit down at a fancy meal.
